i have a 99 f250sd 7.3l with 208,000 miles on it. the truck just started blowing white/blue smoke out the exhaust only when truck is warmed up and only on decel or at idle. there is coolent in the oil and uses about a gallon of coolent in about a 100 miles. i took the oil fill cap off and there is a steady stream of white smoke coming out of it. i put the cap up side down on the fill hole and start the truck and the cap stays there. the truck has no power loss and starts up just fine. when i pulled both valve covers there is white sludge on the inside of both covers and in the top of the cyclinder head. i have taken the truck to a ford dealer and they have no idea what the problem could be and have never seen any thing like this and say i should replace the motor. i have heard this could be the injector cups beign cracked or the cups lifting. just hopping for ideas before pulling the heads to see if it's the head gaskets.

 

Possible injector cups, could be the oil cooler o-rings or cooler itself rotted out. Head gaskets would be the last thing on the list.

Some people also had the cover behind the water pump erode away and leak coolant into the oil and stuff.

 

Fuel in the coolant is usually a cracked injector cup. The white sludge sounds like coolant in the oil, anther sign of a badly failed cup. Head gaskets are a rare failure on a 7.3 but they can happen. Stay away from the stealership! Of course they just want to replace the engine because its the easiest option and requires no in depth diagnosis, something the new generation of "mechanics" don't like doing. You could also have a failed oil cooler or failed Oil Cooler O rings. Stop driving the truck right away, as driving like that will cost you an engine. We need some more info on the truck, What color is the coolant? Green coolant is not the best for a 7.3 but is fine with the SCA from ford. Im sure a mod will move this to the 7.3 section for a better answer! I would avoid dealerships as they really tend to know nothing IMO. OH and Welcome to FTE, Your 7.3 is in good hands here!

 

thank you for the welcome. the coolant is green and does have the SCA from ford in it. so is the best thing to do is start pulling injectors and looking at the cups? Also do i just use brake clean to clean the crap off the heads and stuff?

 

here is what the top of the head and valve cover looks like

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=122481

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=122482

 

Oh wow! it looks like you may have a failed oil cooler o rings from the fuel in the coolant eating them away. I would not rule out HG failure but again it is rare. I would first start by draining the oil, pulling the injectors and pressure testing the coolant looking for the failed cup or cups. then pull the oil cooler for a re-build. Its going to be a challenge to get that nasty oil sludge out of the injectors/hpop. It might take a few oil and filter changes. I would also switch to an ELC and add a coolant filter.

 

Thanks. trying to find some one with a pressure tester. hope to know some thing in a day or two. will post when i find some thing out. any other ideas let me know.

 

IIRC most auto parts stores will rent them You can get the cooler gaskets here, Riffraff Diesel: Oil Cooler Seal Kit

or through ford.

You can also get the cup and tool kit here, http://www.riffraffdiesel.com/mm5/me...Category_Code=

 

The 7.3 is outside of my area.
The white stuff is oil and water emulsion. Normally I would say head gasket or a crack.
You need to check the cooling system to find the leak. I would also check for combustion
gas in the coolant with the bubbler kit that you can rent at Autozone. At least you don't
have the 6.0 EGR cooler to deal with. If you do pressure test the cooling system be ready
for hydraulic lock if in fact you do have a head gasket leak.
Also one other place to check is the oil in the oil pan by draining it and looking for water/coolant
in it. Take a sample of the oil to see if or how much fuel is in it.

Sean

 

Moved to the 1999 - 2003 7.3L Power Stroke Diesel forum.

 

A pressure test won't help you find an internal leak it will just show leak down. Personally I would pull the oil cooler and pull it apart and see what the o-rings look like and replace. Then pressure test and see if you have any leak down problems. If the coolant system still leaks down I would move to the water pump backing plate (pull water pump and look for cavitation on the rear plate). After that then I would move to injector cups.

Like I said the very last thing I would think about is head gaskets.

 

Has your engine been running at normal temperature? If your thermostat is stuck full open you could possibly be running cold and you are seeing condensation in the valve covers.
Had a similar problem with my boat years ago, was certain I had a blown head gasket. Turned out that because it was cooled by unregulated sea water (58*) that the engine temperature never got above 120* and was condensing water vapor in the crank case. Just a thought

 

Hers a update so far. I have pulled the injectors and done the coolent pressure test. no leaks in any of the cups. but i can here the coolent dripping in to the oil pan. so now not sure to pull the oiler cooler or the water pump.

 

Coolant dripping into the oil pan sounds like it could be oil cooler o rings leaking. The o rings fail from the years. Was this truck bought with a tuner or run hard?

 

i bought the truck in 2006 with 149,000. so not sure how it was run before me. i put the super chips tunner in it about 4 years ago. 4" mbrp exhaust on it 2 weeks after i bought the truck and did the cold air intake. i would not say the truck is run super hard but i do pull a 32ft travel trailer with it. i drive the truck about 30 miles a day in stop and go traffic. for the most part the truck has been taken care of. i change the oil ever 5k. fuel filer is every 4 months and the tranny is about every 4 months also. put a 4" lift with 35's on last year and put 456 gears in it.